how many of you use pain meds?

[fibrogal]

Hello, I just wondered how many of you are prescribed pain meds (opiods) as part of your "fibro cocktail." I tried all the so-called fibro meds except lyrica. I refuse to take something that puts that much weight on you so quickly. But I've been unable to take savella or Cymbalta. I did try Topamax, which is in the same "family" as lyrica, and it made me drunk as a skunk.

So right now my cocktail is an SSRI antidepressant, a muscle relaxer usually just at night, 1/2 a Xanax at bedtime, and lortab 3-4 times a day. I despise the stigma associated with pain meds. I believe that if all the naysayers lived a day with our pain, they would stop this nonsense.

Is anyone else willing to share? Do you feel guilty about taking them? Sometimes I do, but then I realize that my quality of life would be just about nil without them.

Thanks!

 

[Little Bev]

Hi fibrogal. I started on Cymbalta about 5 days ago and am having some side effects from it. Two days ago, I slept all day from exhaustion. I woke up exhausted. Today, I got up and had no muscle strength. I had pain in my upper back muscle. I felt like my throat was swollen. And my hands don't have a lot of strength to type. My husband had me to take some deep breaths, which helped. I couldn't fall back to sleep even after a sleepless night. I don't feel as weak as I did, but I still don't feel normal. I will call the pharmacist and ask if the side effects will eventually go away once my body gets use to it. I don't know. I hate this. It seems to be helping with my depression associated with fibro.

 

[Happyflowerlady]

My doctor has offered to prescribe some pain medication for me, but so far, I have refused. You see all the ads on TV, ad showing such wonderful results, but then they also mention all the side effects that are possible, and some of those are pretty radical, so as long as I can make it without taking any prescription painkillers, I want to try and do so.
I take Aleve, or sometimes just a generic inuprofen tablet or two, and I have found that if I stay completely away from sugary foods, I hurt a whole lot less. I just love ice cream, but I know that if I have even a small dish of it, I will be crippling around the next day, so I pretty much don't eat any ice cream nowdays.

 

[cinderr]

I will take anything that makes me hurt less to include pot. I haven't yet but I plan to. All these doctors offer me is vicodin. Of course I'm probably addicted by now but it doesn't seem to bother anyone. I'm not sure I want to try all that stuff esp the one that makes you pile on the weight. Oh gosh no! I would like to be narcotic free.

 

[fibromama]

I am on Paxil, Neurontin and flexeril for my fibromyalgia pain. Without Neurontin I would not be able to walk because my legs feel like they are 100 pounds each. I use flexeril to get me from 2pm to 5pm when I'm done with work. I'm still in pain even on all of these meds but it is significantly less than what it would be without them.

 

[mweber]

HI - I take Savella and Neurontin for nerve pain. I also take tramadol almost daily. Yes, i feel guilty taking it. I try to start the day telling myself that I'm not going to take it to avoid growing dependent on it, but then I usually give in and take 1-2 per day. My neck hurts on a daily basis and my back is always fatigued and knotted up. The tramadol makes my quality of life a lot better. Now that I am used to it, I am no longer loopy or drowsy on it. It just gives me that extra relief that helps me through my day. So yes, I am dependent on it and yes, I feel guilty taking it. My doctor says that it's fine to take every day. I have 3 kids under the age of 8, one of whom is autistic, and a job. I have to do everything necessary to get me through my day. Thanks for listening.

 

[Trellum]

Right now I'm using some natural aids... by natural aids I mean medical marijuana! I don't like the idea of using meds for the rest of my life, I tried taking the meds the doctors gave me, but I soon found out they were loaded with a bunch of really nasty side effects! I'm too young for that, I think. Plus, I have a really sensitive stomach, and I already need to take meds for other unrelated health issues. I don't think that adding more meds to that list is the best idea. I'll keep doing this until I can, we'll see what happens in the future

 

[KateUK]

Hi - I am currently taking Etodolac, Duloxetine, Co-Codamol (higher mg) and the newest member of the "pain-relief" pills is Pregabalin and Pramipexole (for the restless legs side of Fibro)...none of these take the pain away completely and the only ones that I am certain are working is the Pramipexole and Etodolac as I ran out of both and had to wait over the weekend to get a refill and I could hardly walk with the pain.

I had been on Tramadol topped up with Paracetamol and they didn't touch the pain, so instead of going up a step onto Morphine, I requested to go back down to the Co-Codamol as the Tramadol made me feel sick and I figured that instead of being a "zombie" in pain, it would be better to be just in pain, does that make sense?

The pain is always there anyway but I know my limitations now and I try not to push it. If I do a lot of walking or standing one day, I'm usually house-bound for the following 2 days!

 

[MercyL]

Hello, I just wondered how many of you are prescribed pain meds (opiods) as part of your "fibro cocktail." I tried all the so-called fibro meds except lyrica. I refuse to take something that puts that much weight on you so quickly. But I've been unable to take savella or Cymbalta. I did try Topamax, which is in the same "family" as lyrica, and it made me drunk as a skunk.

So right now my cocktail is an SSRI antidepressant, a muscle relaxer usually just at night, 1/2 a Xanax at bedtime, and lortab 3-4 times a day. I despise the stigma associated with pain meds. I believe that if all the naysayers lived a day with our pain, they would stop this nonsense.

Is anyone else willing to share? Do you feel guilty about taking them? Sometimes I do, but then I realize that my quality of life would be just about nil without them.

Thanks!

I take pain medications and proud of it. I tried all sorts of alternatives and the pain steadily grew worse. I had to get to the point where I could not read a magazine before I deciding to get some real help.

I'll fight anyone throwing the word "addiction" around when talking about chronic conditions. We are no worse than the diabetic depending on insulin to live. We cannot produce enough endorphins to control our pain, just as the diabetic can no longer produce enough insulin to maintain reasonable glucose levels.

When people mention addiction during face to face conversations, I make sure to describe my pain in as many details as I can, then ask them about the worst pain they have ever had, how long it lasted, and the number of times it returned.

Most folk stop talking at that point, and start actually listening.

If we do not speak up and fight for our legitimate medical needs, we will lose access to most of the medications that actually control chronic, writhing pain.

We can no longer let shame to silence us.

 

[Little Bev]

my question is this. how do you know if what your feeling is from the fibro or from the meds, especially when the side effects from the cymbalta are very similar to the symptoms of fibro? like for instance, after I take the cymbalta 30mg one a day( always after breakfast) I start feeling those things. my husband suggested I start taking the med at night and see if it makes a difference the next day. I was wondering if anyone else knows the difference.

 

[Little Bev]

I forgot to add: my symptoms are fatigue and muscle weakness.

 

[rollinloud]

I used to use pain meds but they became way too addictive. I have been self medicating with medical marijuana and it is way better than popping all those pills. Those pills tear up your stomach. If you are addicted, please see a counselor. You can overcome this.

 

[FiGhTn4LiFe]

I seriously wish I could find some kind of pain meds that don't make me so violently ill I would rather deal with the pain. It (the pain) has gotten so bad that all of my back muscles are now neuropic. You would think that's better than pain but its not. I still have pain everywhere else and that electic needles feeling on top of it. I'm so exhausted from this fight I no longer know where to turn. I want to find a new pain doctor but don't have the energy to start all over AGAIN. I still work full time and try my best to be a good wife, mother, and grandmother. Can't find a good balance and I've been trying for years. I don't know who decided that FMS doesn't get worse/isn't progressive. It most certainly is. I refuse to quit but feel like I'm losing the battle. It definatly has the best of me right now. To answer your question, which is really all I intended to do, if I could take pain meds I would. All day everyday. If you can, do it and don't you dare feel quilty for it. Do everything you can to be comfortable even if its only for several hours a day. You deserve that. We all do. Thanks for listening to my rant. Be well!

 

[FiGhTn4LiFe]

Amen ... Couldn't have said that better myself.

 

[fibrogal]

I take pain medications and proud of it. I tried all sorts of alternatives and the pain steadily grew worse. I had to get to the point where I could not read a magazine before I deciding to get some real help.

I'll fight anyone throwing the word "addiction" around when talking about chronic conditions. We are no worse than the diabetic depending on insulin to live. We cannot produce enough endorphins to control our pain, just as the diabetic can no longer produce enough insulin to maintain reasonable glucose levels.

When people mention addiction during face to face conversations, I make sure to describe my pain in as many details as I can, then ask them about the worst pain they have ever had, how long it lasted, and the number of times it returned.

Most folk stop talking at that point, and start actually listening.

If we do not speak up and fight for our legitimate medical needs, we will lose access to most of the medications that actually control chronic, writhing pain.

We can no longer let shame to silence us.

Mercy, I agree with you.